State police arrested Daly after a manhunt Sunday evening. Earlier that day, friends discovered Dana's body in the couple's backyard on Rocky Brook Drive in Huntington. Daly reported Dana missing Saturday afternoon, and fled on foot when her body was discovered.

Prosecutors initially charged Daly with improper disposal of a body and misleading. He was first arraigned on Monday and held on $100,000 bail at the Hampshire County House of Correction.

Bail has been revoked following his plea on the murder charge.

The Republican | Dave Roback06.25.2012 | NORTHAMPTON -- Jeb Daly of Huntington appears in Hampshire District Court in Northampton Monday to answer charges filed in connection with the suspicious death of his girlfriend, Jessica Dana. At left is his lawyer Alan Rubin.

Assistant District Attorney Jeremy Bucci said after the arraignment that the state medical examiner ruled the case a homicide and there were three pieces of evidence that led them to charge Daly with murder. Bucci did not comment on the cause of Dana's death, but he said that a plastic bag found on Dana’s body bore Daly’s fingerprint. In addition, her body was wrapped in bedding that matched the bedding from the couple's bedroom.

Daly was the last person to be with her Friday night and the only adult present Saturday morning, investigators said. That evidence coupled with the forensic evidence led to the murder charge, Bucci said.

Friends said the couplehad been together for about five years and had two children together. Dana was the mother to one additional child.

According to the complaint filed Friday, state police executed a search warrant Monday and found trash bags in the kitchen of the home that matched those used to wrap the upper and lower portions of Dana’s body. Police also found a matching trash bag in a shed on the property.

The body had wrapped in a checkered sheet, a camouflage sheet and other layers of bedding and linens, according to the statement

Bucci said he expects to present the evidence to a Hampshire County grand jury.

Bucci could not comment where Daly will be held pending trial. A pre-trial conference has been slated for July 27.

Of the eight homicides in Western Massachusetts since Jan. 1, Dana's is the fourth that is considered a domestic homicide.

That list includes Springfield police officer Kevin Ambrose who was shot to death June 6 by a New York City man who then attempted to kill his estranged girlfriend.

The list includes Jessica Pripstein, 39, of Easthampton who was stabbed to death Feb. 20 by her estranged boyfriend, and Jessica Rojas, 25, who was stabbed to death at her Springfield apartment by her boyfriend.

In 2011, just one of 23 homicides in Western Massachusetts was considered a domestic.

In 2010, there were five out of 29 total homicides, and including two murder-suicides.

The following is a copy of the court complaint against Jeb Daly of Huntington. Readers should be warned that the text contains strong language and graphic details.